Last year, I bought probably one of the last clean, unmodified Nissan 240SXs in California. As a Nissan fanatic and 240SX obsessive, this was my dream-spec car: Aztec Red, dual-cam, manual transmission, uncracked dash, black interior. I picked it up from a retired woman who’d owned it for 27 years and kept every maintenance record. She even saved the window sticker and Monroney label from the original owner before her. I’m going to make it my own—while respecting the quality of the car.
I’ve been a modifier for as long as I’ve been a car enthusiast (forever), and even though plenty will say I should have kept this example stock, that was never going to happen. But my plan for this 240 will scratch my “must-modify” itch while, I think, keeping the purists (and myself) happy.
That said, here was the plan: Replicate the Japanese-spec Kouki 180SX Type X. It’s a mouthful of JDM-geek jargon, but basically, the 180SX—the Japanese equivalent of our hatchback 240SX—stayed in production until 1998. For its final years (kouki meaning “later version”), the car was offered in a “Type X” trim that came with a unique aero package: a special wing, skirts, and other details.
To complete the look, my Kouki Type X conversion needed the following:
And to satisfy my purist side, I set out to find all OEM parts or OEM-quality equivalents. Mind you, a lot of this stuff is nearly 30 years old, often used and beat, or BNIB/NOS, and very expensive. Nevertheless, the hunt began.
Luckily, the first batch of parts came easily. A friend of a friend had all the taillight pieces brand new from Nissan, an OEM wing, and replica side skirts from the reputable DorkiDori brand.
Next came all the front-end parts. It’s surprisingly complex, not just a bumper. There are side extensions, several lights, an emblem, multiple brackets, and a lip to really complete the look. Oh, and you need conversion wiring harnesses to get all those lights to work, plus conversion brackets to mount U.S. license plates since Japanese plates have different bolt spacing.
As for the bumper itself, I found a new OEM unit with extensions from someone on Facebook Marketplace who just so happened to be the cousin of a close friend. It’s always cool meeting enthusiasts who share the same niche interests through buying and selling car parts online. Conversations turn into friendships instead of just transactions. The rest of the pieces I ordered were brand-new from shops like Z1 and Enjuku.
Amidst the parts hunt, I sourced a set of original 180SX wheels on Yahoo Auctions Japan and imported them through my friend Jacob at Shock the Mob, who specializes in bringing Japanese car parts to the U.S. Unfortunately, tariffs caused some delays, so it became a waiting game. Thankfully, though, I won the auction, and ultimately they did arrive.
In the meantime: Paint. I hit up ACG Mobile Paint in San Diego after seeing their work at a local cars and coffee meet.
The paint match? Perfect. Finally, I had what felt like 50 parts (including all the small stuff) laid out on the floor—perfectly matched and ready to transform my car from tame to JDM AF. Sixteen-year-old me was stoked. I called up my car buddies, grabbed some drinks and pizza, and we started the install. It was one of those garage nights with lots of laughs, problem-solving, and small victories along the way. Over the next few days, we got everything to fit: Front end one day, sides another, rear end and wing the next. After plenty of measuring, mounting, and drilling, my vision was 99% complete. All I needed were those dang wheels still on the container from Japan.
For months, I drove around on the stock steelies with teardrop-style hubcaps but kept the project momentum going by focusing on other things, like the interior and other visual upgrades.
Inside, I swapped out the stock S13 seats for more comfortable S14 seats. Pulling from another S-chassis, I installed a leather shift knob from an S15 Silvia in place of the cracked and rubbery stock S13 one. Beyond improving exterior appearance with a body kit, I focused on the finer details: tint and PDR. Both are subtle tweaks that really sharpen the car’s overall look. The tint not only keeps things cooler inside (the A/C still doesn’t work yet), but it also helps prevent the dash from cracking. Plus, I love the way the dark tint ties in with the black trim on the 240SX’s hatch and rear windows.
Mechanically, the car has endless maintenance records, but expecting nothing to go wrong with something this old would be naive. The first issue that came up was a loss of clutch feel. I replaced the master and slave cylinders, only to find the issue still persisted. Then I learned the 240SX has a clutch damper between the master and slave, which usually fails. I deleted that and was back on the road. Then my stock radiator blew, so I went ahead and balled out on a Koyorad. No mechanical problems since!
Performance-wise, I knew I wanted more sound from the car, so an exhaust was inevitable. Whether any aftermarket exhaust adds power to a stock 2.4L KA24 is questionable, but that didn’t matter. I just needed more soul. At the same time, I wanted to keep it stock-looking, so the stealthiest, most cost-effective, and reputable option I found was the HKS Sport exhaust. It was a direct bolt-on, and my car’s fun factor jumped up a few points.
Finally, I got the text: “Your wheels are in,” said Jacob from Shock the Mob. I drove to Corona, CA, to catch up with my longtime buddy and pick up the final piece of my automotive puzzle. The next day, I had fresh tires mounted, and we were rolling.
At last, this was it. One year later, the vision was complete: a stock 240SX transformed into a fully-kitted 180SX Type-X replica with mostly OEM parts. Taking it to the next level would mean sourcing other bits like 180SX seats or an SR20DET engine, but for now, I consider this phase complete. Still, I’m always chasing more, as projects like this are never truly finished. Since writing, I’ve tracked down rare OEM skirts to replace the replica fiberglass ones currently on the car. On top of that, I’ve picked up a slew of suspension parts that’ll make their debut in V2. For now, I’ll be driving the heck out of it in its current form, maybe finding a track day to attend, and keeping my hands busy sketching out this car’s next evolution.
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Cy is The Drive’s Social Media Manager, overseeing operations on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and more.
